Those words were spoken by Robert Lloyd Praeger, the first President of An Taisce, sixty years ago, when our organisation was founded. As we celebrate our sixtieth anniversary today, Praeger’s words still guide us as we look forward to our future. 

 

In those sixty years, An Taisce has many achievements of which Ireland can be proud.    As a non government membership organisation with a prescribed status in the Planning Process, we have many important functions including - raising Ireland’s environmental profile internationally, managing and developing a number of public properties and sites of national importance, and raising environmental awareness generally among the Irish public.

 

Ireland can be proud of the work of An Taisce. We now have 90% of Irish primary schools and an increasing number of post-primary schools taking part in the Green Schools scheme - that’s 500,000 children! A huge proportion of these schools have already been awarded Green Flags because of the excellent standard of Environmental Awareness they have achieved. In fact, Ireland has by far the highest proportion of green flags among all the EU countries involved in the scheme. Also thanks to the efforts of An Taisce, Irish people enjoy clean beaches and bathing water, courtesy of the Blue Flag scheme. We also safeguard Irish heritage properties – across the country our volunteers manage 16 properties of significant value to the people of Ireland. Among these properties is Kanturk Castle in County Cork. The unfinished castle was built during the 17th century, by the Gaelic chieftain Dermot MacOwen MacDonagh MacCarthy.    He was ordered to discontinue construction of the castle by the Privy Council in London after complaints by his neighbours that he was building a fortress.

 

Our other main function and the one that most people will be familiar with is our role in upholding Irish Government planning policy. Contrary to public perception, what we actually do is uphold existing planning policy. We do not create it in the first place. This is done by our elected TDs and Senators and at a local level by City and County Councillors. An Taisce volunteers around the country simply ensure that these policies are being adhered to by the very people that create them.

 

Perhaps due to this work, there is a perception that we are ‘naysayers’, ‘anti development’ etc. The underlying inference is that we are somewhat ‘un Irish’ - stopping people doing whatever they want with their own land. However, I would argue that there is nothing more Irish than protecting the heritage of our country. There is nothing more Irish than ensuring our schools are leaders in Europe in their standards of Environmental Awareness - or that our citizens can enjoy clean beaches. Conserving the natural environment should be central to the values of everyone living in Ireland.

  

Many Irish men and women have given so much to our organisation, spurred on by national pride, and a sense of civic duty.  Among them were three of our former Presidents – Eamon de Valera, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and Mary Robinson – all of whom were members of An Taisce.  All three felt it was their duty as Irish citizens to protect our environment and saw that membership of our association was the way to ensure that this happened.

 

So, we have much to be proud of as we celebrate our anniversary today.    However, challenges lie ahead. As we approach somewhat more difficult times, after fifteen years of the Celtic Tiger, we must ensure that environmental concerns are not sidelined by Government, due to financial constrictions.  We have worked hard to place the issue of conservation high on the public agenda.  We owe it to those gone by, not to return to a day when there was little public support for, or understanding of, conservation and environmental issues.

 

Today is an opportunity for us to re-emphasise our Irish values - to point out that caring for our environment is in the national interest. Our land, so dearly won back after eight hundred years of oppression and conquest, was not won so that people could treat it in ways that disregard the common good. Perhaps now we can see that standing up for the common good and voicing our opinions on unwise proposed developments is in our national interest. There is no patriotism in standing idly by while your very environment is being undermined, while you observe but do nothing.

 

Today, we will honour a number of our volunteers, by bestowing on them the honour of life membership of our organisation. I ask you to join us in honouring them, and indeed honouring our past great Irish men and women, by helping us to conserve our country, and to pass it on to future generations for their enjoyment and national pride.